Fire Unmoved By Ice, Ice Unharmed By Fire
by Irhaboggles
Summary: Alone and afraid, Elsa stands against the world. At least until a mysterious new visitor arrives at her ice palace, carrying a wicked pair of horns and a terrible temper. She doesn't appear to be dangerous, though, and what Elsa is most intrigued about is the fact that this stranger's fire is not harmed by her ice. Has Elsa finally found a fellow sorceress, a friend?


Elsa paced around in her ice castle like a rat inside a maze. She had just struck her precious little sister in the heart with a blast of her icy magic again. Fear, grief, anger, guilt, shame and worry all swirled around her like a million snowflakes in a blizzard. Soon, the emotions became so powerful and overwhelming that she felt like she couldn't even breathe. She ran away from her ice palace as fast as she could, an unknown destination in her mind. She didn't care where she wound up, just as long as it wasn't in her castle, which was starting to feel like a tomb, or anywhere near Arendelle, which was already suffering so much because of her.

But after running endlessly in one direction, Elsa began to realize what a foolish decision this was. What if she got lost out here? Though she was the queen of the ice and snow, she was not immortal, and even she would not be able to survive getting lost in a blizzard. She turned back the way she had come and ran all the way back to her castle. By the time she returned, she felt a little bit better. There was still a lot of negative energy surrounding her, but some of it had dissipated after that little run. But if the run wouldn't distract her from her problems, what she found waiting for her inside her ice castle most definitely would.

Elsa had only just pushed open the door to her castle when she caught sight of a strange woman, all clad in black and possessing two giant black horns, sitting right smack in the middle of the room. She was sitting in front of a bright green fire that was burning right there on the floor of the castle, not a single piece or wood or tinder to be seen. But strangest of all, the fire wasn't melting any of the ice, even the ice it was sitting upon.

"Who are you?" Elsa's voice quickly tightened with tension as she approached the intruder with caution. Her breath grew sharp as she raised her hands, ready to conjure up some ice magic if this horned woman tried anything. But she didn't. Instead, she only stood up and turned around slowly. With a languid and disdainful voice, she answered Elsa's question.

"I am Maleficent."

Maleficent, after being exiled from her own kingdom, had fled far away. Farther than planned, even, and the world had suddenly gone from a nice, summery green and gold to an endless and barren white. The ill-tempered fairy had been forced to trudge on through the ice and snow, body physically stinging from the cold wind, hoping that she would find some place of safety and shelter before she died of hypothermia. Although she could create fire with a wave of her hand, this sort of winter was harder to deal with than she was used to. It was how she knew that it must've been caused by some magical entity. Now, with the arrival of this young woman with white hair, it seemed that Maleficent had found her answer.

"Why are you here?" Elsa snapped, put off by Maleficent unruffled introduction.

"Trying to keep warm," Maleficent snarked back, cocking a horned head towards her emerald fire. Elsa gave a surprisingly cold and raspy laugh before some of the guilt of what she had done returned to her.

"You should probably go," she murmured softly, looking away from Maleficent. Now it was Maleficent's turn to be surprised by the other woman's tone. She sounded scared, but not because of Maleficent. And was that a note of guilt and shame Maleficent was hearing from Elsa?

"Why?" she asked, asking out of a genuine curiosity that was quite unlike her.

"I can't keep you warm," Elsa's voice trembled and Maleficent could see her lip quiver a little. Immediately, Maleficent realized that even though this woman was indeed the one responsible for the bitterly cold weather, she was not very happy about it. And Maleficent understood that Elsa was begging her to leave before her icy magic accidently caused any harm to the dark fairy.

Such a selfless and compassionate sentiment made Maleficent want to laugh, when it didn't make her want to barf. But the longer she stared at Elsa, whose posture was growing smaller and more uncertain with each minute, the stronger and angrier Maleficent felt. She was not a good person. And she didn't claim to be. But even she did not like to see this young witch, with the potential of being a goddess, looking so ashamed and afraid of herself and her powers, her gifts! What imbeciles had taught this girl to loathe herself when she could be so much more than she ever dreamed of? How dare they break her spirit and ruin a perfectly good talent?

"But that's ok," the dark fairy finally said. "I don't need warmth, and nor do you..." she gestured at the icy walls surrounding them, but Elsa knew she wasn't just referring to warmth in the physical or literal sense. This made Elsa dip her head in deeper shame and sorrow.

"But that is not a bad thing," Maleficent continued. "You are misunderstood and lost, aren't you?" she asked.

"I am," Elsa admitted, briefly asking herself why she was being so open with such a creepy stranger. As if in response to Elsa's silent concern, a sudden small gust of cold air rushed through the castle, but while Elsa's dress and Maleficent's robes fluttered in the breeze, the green fire behind them both remained totally unmoved. Not a single little flicker of flame was blown off course by that sudden chilly gust.

"As am I," Maleficent replied, then she waved a hand and caused her green fire to stretch out like a snake and make a quick circle around Elsa before settling back in the middle of the room like nothing had even happened. Not even the tiniest chips of ice had melted off of Elsa's dress.

For a moment, there was only silence as Elsa waited for Maleficent to say something, anything, else. She could sense that the strange woman was trying to suggest that maybe they ought to team up, and maybe she could teach Elsa how to control her powers and make them less harmful, but she never said any of this outright. Elsa was only gleaning this from Maleficent's mysterious actions, namely, making a fire that did not die when Elsa's ice and snow touched it. Fire, unmoved by ice. Ice, unharmed by fire. There was something very powerful in such a symbolic gesture, but Elsa just didn't know what exactly it was...

But Maleficent did not say anything else. Instead, she turned back towards her fire and sat down in front of it, a clear indication that she would not be moved. It was a very surreal experience for Elsa. Part of her wanted to kick this intruder out. But part of her wanted the intruder to stay. Was it because Elsa was lonely? Desperate for any potential teacher or fellow witch she could find? Scared of being alone and defenseless? Hopeful, because Maleficent was the first ever person to take the discovery about Elsa being an ice witch without freaking out? Hopeful, because Maleficent was the first person not to stay by her side out of guilt, but because she genuinely did not care what Elsa was capable of? Worried that sending Maleficent away might result in her death because of the cold?

Elsa really didn't know. All she knew was that she wanted Maleficent to stay.

"I'm Elsa, by the way," Elsa said at last. Maleficent grunted to show that she had heard, but she made no further acknowledgement than that. That was when Elsa decided to join the dark fairy at her green fire. Elsa sat right down beside Maleficent, no reservations whatsoever. Maleficent seemed both surprised and annoyed by Elsa's sudden closeness, but instead of saying anything, she only moved a bit closer to Elsa in return and both women stared into the emerald flames together in silence.

**AN: Another Idina/Kristin character crossover. You can decide whether or not Maleficent feels fondly about Elsa or not, and you can decide whether or not her intentions and beliefs about Elsa's powers are pure or selfish.**


End file.
